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CIC notice to RBI for dishonouring Supreme Court order to disclose wilful defaulters’ list

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The CIC recalled that RBI had earlier disclosed, in response to an RTI application, that bad debt stood at Rs 15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012 and that it had shot up by over three times to Rs 52,542 crore by the end of March 201.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued a show-cause notice to RBI Governor Urjit Patel for “dishonouring” a Supreme Court judgment on disclosure of wilful defaulters’ list and told the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make public the letter of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on bad loans.

Irked over the denial of information on the disclosure of the names of wilful defaulters who have taken bank loans of Rs 50 crore and above by the RBI in spite of a Supreme Court order, the CIC has asked Patel to explain why a maximum penalty be not imposed on him for “dishonouring” the verdict which had upheld a decision taken by then Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, calling for disclosure of names of wilful defaulters.

Central Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu, according to ANI, said, “We got RTI for disclosing list of names of wilful defaulters who defaulted on loans beyond Rs 50Cr. A similar RTI was filed earlier in which the earlier Information Commissioner had given an order that names of defaulters can be disclosed along with action taken.”

“In the RTI, RBI bank inspection reports were demanded, RBI resisted & took the matter to the CIC, CIC ordered that info should be given & around a dozen appeals were transferred to SC. SC said that the info has to be disclosed. RBI has the duty to implement the SC orders.”

A PTI report said the CIC pointed out that Patel, speaking on September 20 at the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), had said the guidelines on vigilance, issued by the CVC, were aimed at achieving greater transparency, promoting a culture of honesty and probity in public life and improving the overall vigilance administration in the organisations within its purview.

“The Commission feels that there is no match between what RBI Governor and Deputy Governor say and their website regarding their RTI policy, and great secrecy of vigilance reports and inspection reports is being maintained with impunity in spite of the Supreme Court confirming the orders of the CIC in the Jayantilal case”, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said.

He concluded that it did not serve any purpose in punishing the CPIO for this defiance, because he acted under the instructions of the top authorities.

“The Commission considers the Governor as deemed PIO responsible for non-disclosure and defiance of SC orders and CIC orders and directs him to show cause why maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for these reasons, before November 16, 2018,” Acharyulu said.

He rejected the arguments of Santosh Kumar Panigrahy of the RBI that section 22 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act would not override various laws he quoted, prohibiting disclosure of names and details of wilful defaulters and hence, the RBI should be discharged from the obligations of disclosure.

“His contention that unless the above referred enactments are repealed, the RBI cannot disclose the details of defaulters is also absurd,” Acharyulu said.

He added that another contention of Panigrahy that the pendency of a PIL before the Supreme Court on the issue would prevent him from disclosure was also baseless as he did not present any interim order passed by the Supreme Court preventing the disclosure of names of wilful defaulters or against the proceedings before the CIC.

“These submissions of the RBI show that its legal wing did not bring to the notice of the CPIO that in the RBI vs Jayantilal N Mistry case, a Supreme Court bench consisting of M Y Eqbat and C Nagappan JJ, on December 16, 2015 [Transferred Cases (Civil) Nos. 91 to 101 of 2015], gave a landmark decision, upholding the direction of the CIC to disclose the inspection reports of the RBI and the names of wilful defaulters in many cases, rejecting all the above referred contentions of the RBI,” Acharyulu said.

The information commissioner said in that case, the counsel for the RBI had raised the same contentions, referring to the same cases referred by Panigrahy, and those were straightaway rejected by the Supreme Court.

“The commission finds no merit in hiding the names of, details and action against wilful defaulters of big bad loans worth hundreds of crores of rupees.

“The RBI shall disclose the bad debt details of defaulters worth more than Rs 1,000 crore at the beginning, of Rs 500 crore or less at a later stage within five days and collect such information from the banks in due course to update their voluntary disclosures from time to time as a practice under section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act,” he said.

In his order, Acharyulu also recalled how the RBI had “lost all their cases and contentions” when they had moved the Supreme Court against the directions of former CIC Shailesh Gandhi. Calling upon administrative officers of CIC to pursue these contempt of court cases against top management of RBI, he asked: “If the banking regulatory like RBI will not honour the constitutional directions, what will be the effect of constitution on securing rule of law?”

Acharyulu also made a fervent appeal to the RBI governor – to remember the farmers who die as they fail to repay their debt – “before defying the transparency law and directions”. He also asked Patel to immediately discontinue the non-disclosure policy saying it would seriously harm the economy of the nation. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2015 along over 3,000 farmers had committed suicide across the country as they were unable to repay their loans.

In his order, Acharyulu also recalled that RBI had earlier disclosed, in response to an RTI application, that bad debt stood at Rs 15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012 and that it had shot up by over three times to Rs 52,542 crore by the end of March 2015.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, wife Gurpreet Kaur blessed with a baby girl

Mann is the first chief minister in the history of re-organised Punjab to become a father while in office. He is 51 years old.

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhaghwant Mann and his wife Gurpreet Kaur were blessed with a baby girl on Thursday. Mann took to X and posted that the Almighty has given him the gift of a daughter. He said both the mother and the girl are healthy. According to reports the baby was delivered at Fortis hospital Mohali.

Mann is the first chief minister in the history of re-organised Punjab to become a father while in office. He is 51 years old. He has 2 children with his ex-wife, who is now settled in Canada with the 2 children.  

Mann also shared the picture of his daughter in another post. Mann had married Kaur in 2022 after he separated from his first wife in 2015. His wedding was held at his residence in Chandigarh and was attended by select guests like Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, MP Raghav Chadha.

The Punjab chief minister’s family members including his mother and his sister were also part of the wedding, which was carried out according to Sikh rituals. Comedian turned politician Bhagwant Mann became an MP from Sangrur for the first time when he won the 2014 Lok Sabha election on Aam Aadmi Party ticket.

His first wife Inderjit Kaur also campaigned for him during the elections. Before the Punjab assembly election the Aam Aadmi Party declared him as his CM face for Punjab. He won the elections with a thumping victory. Bhagwant Mann is the 17th chief minister of Punjab. Mann’s 2nd wife Gurpreet Kaur, born in 1993, is a doctor by profession and studied MBBS in Ambala. She hails from Pehowa town in Kurukshetra district. According to reports Gurpreet Kaur’s family and Mann’s family have known each other for a long time.

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Dera chief of Uttarakhand’s Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara shot dead within premises

Baba Tarsem Singh was hurried to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

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Dera chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurudwara in Uttarakhand was shot dead within the premises of the shrine by two bike-borne assailants on Thursday. A CCTV footage showed the brutal killing of the dera chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara.

The footage shared by news agency PTI shows the dera chief sitting on a chair at around 6:30 am in the premises when two bike-borne assailants arrived and fired at him. Udham Singh Nagar, SSP, Manju Nath asserted that Baba Tarsem Singh was hurried to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

Notably, the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara is a revered Sikh shrine situated on the Rudrapur-Tanakpur route in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state. Reportedly, the Uttarakhand Police has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the chilling murder. 

Furthermore, additional police personnel have been deployed in the Nanakmatta area of Udham Singh Nagar district to ensure peace. The police have also appealed to the Sikh community to maintain peace. The Police officials have also contacted central agencies to share useful input, and a massive search operation is underway to nab the culprits.

Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar said that they received information around 7 am on Thursday that between 6:15-6:30 am, two masked assailants entered Nanakmatta Gurdwara and shot Kar Seva Pramukh Baba Tarsem Singh. He added that the Dera chief was rushed to the hospital in Khatima, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The DGP mentioned that this is a very serious matter and that senior officials have reached the spot. He affirmed that DIG Kumaon will inspect the scene of the crime and speak to the locals. Furthermore, he will try to assess the situation there. Abhinav Kumar also mentioned that for investigation of the incident, Police Headquarters has formed an SIT, which will comprise officials of STF and local Police.

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US reiterates its call for fair, transparent, legal process for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, speaks on Congress frozen accounts

The US spokesperson said that they are also aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections.

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A day after India summoned an US diplomat over their remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, the US reiterated its call for fair, transparent, timely legal processes on Wednesday.

Responding to questions on India summoning Gloria Berbena, the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that they will continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Notably, the meeting at the foreign ministry’s South Block office lasted nearly 40 minutes yesterday with India objecting strongly to the US remarks on the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal.

Matthew Miller also responded to a question on the Congress party’s frozen bank accounts. The US spokesperson said that they are also aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections. He added that the US encourages fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of the issues.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the Delhi liquor policy scam. Earlier, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Sanjay Singh were arrested in the same case.

The External Affairs Ministry had earlier stated that states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies, adding that it could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents.

The Ministry further emphasized that India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. It mentioned that casting aspersions on India’s legal procedure is unwarranted.

The United State’s remarks followed days after Germany’s Foreign Office stressed that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial. The Indian government labelled their remark as blatant interference in internal matters.

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